


What to Expect

by improbabledicks (Strawberry_Hill)



Series: Vaguely-Related Domestic Snippets [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic, M/M, background Mike/Nanaba
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-28 08:08:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2725073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawberry_Hill/pseuds/improbabledicks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi and Erwin decide to adopt a child, but it's a more complicated process than they realized.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What to Expect

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you again for the comments and kudos on my previous fics! I'm so happy you all like what I've posted so far. 
> 
> You can check out my eruri sideblog at [improbabledicks](http://improbabledicks.tumblr.com/).

Levi had known for a while that Erwin desperately wanted to have children one day. He could see it in the way Erwin always smiled at the children running wild through the store when they were getting groceries together, or how Erwin had fawned over a coworker’s newborn at the office holiday party. Levi himself was more neutral about children—he hadn’t had a great childhood, so the idea of starting his own family wasn’t something he’d considered much until they’d gotten married. Children were okay when they weren’t screaming or throwing food, though.  

Things were set into motion when Erwin was offered a significant promotion in another city. Levi was keen to move to a warmer climate, and Erwin was keen to move closer to where their college friends had settled, so he took the promotion and they started contemplating what sort of place they could afford. After looking at their finances and realizing they’d saved a decent amount of money, they were suddenly considering using part of their savings as a down payment and buying a house to actually settle down in. 

And with that came the question. It had come up before, the possibility of a family, but never seriously and always in the abstract, far away future. Now they were looking at houses, though, and they had to start considering things they’d never thought about before. The number of bedrooms. Neighborhood safety. School districts. Even if they didn’t eventually have children, the possibility meant that they had to think about those things when they looked at potential houses. 

After many long car trips to the new city and countless hours of researching, talking to their realtor, and walking through houses and neighborhoods, they found the perfect house. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a decent-sized kitchen, a laundry room, a gas fireplace, and a big open backyard. It was tucked away in a nice corner of the suburbs with a small park nearby, and all the major remodeling the house needed had already been done. A hideous amount of negotiations and paperwork later, they closed in escrow and the house was theirs. 

The move went smoothly for the most part, Levi obsessively labeling each box and stacking them neatly in their apartment’s living room as they slowly packed up all their belongings the week of their move. Erwin was sorely tempted to push their couch into oncoming traffic after having to negotiate it down the narrow stairs on their moving day, but they eventually got everything in the truck, had the final meeting and walkthrough with their landlord, and were on their way. 

It took a few weeks for them to completely settle—they’d unpacked quickly, but they weren’t living in a tiny apartment anymore, so new appliances and furniture and decorations had to be bought, the house slowly morphing into something that looked like a proper home. The master bathroom also needed some work, and Levi decided they should to upgrade the bathtub while they were at it. They sorted everything out eventually, though, and soon enough, they had finished remodeling and had started to remember which light switches corresponded to what. Levi set up his workspace in the second bedroom, and they left the third bedroom for storing things. 

Levi thrived in the warmer climate, and Erwin was thrilled to see him so content. To celebrate their new home, they hosted a small housewarming party, inviting Hanji, Mike, and Nanaba. Hanji lived across town, and Mike and Nanaba had settled in a neighboring city. The five of them together, just like they had been in college, felt so natural that Erwin knew they’d made the right decision. 

*

After they had settled, and after Erwin had gotten used to his new office and new responsibilities, it was time to ask the question again. They were taking an evening walk past the nearby park when Erwin broached the subject. 

“Have you given any more thought to having children?” he asked as they slowly passed by the play area, where a few neighborhood children were chasing one another and giggling. Levi glanced up at Erwin. 

“A bit,” he admitted. “I guess we’re stable enough to consider it.”

Erwin hummed in agreement.

“Is it something you want, though?” he pressed, squeezing Levi’s hand slightly. Erwin knew how neutral his husband was about traditional family things. Levi sighed, gazing toward the playing children.

“It’s something I want to look into,” he decided. “I know you want a family,” he added softly, stopping them so he could turn to Erwin. “It’s just a big decision. And it’s a bit more complicated since neither of us can get knocked up.”

Erwin laughed, pulling Levi into a hug.

“If only.”

*

They started looking into the adoption process when they returned home, Levi bringing his laptop out to the kitchen table so they could look up local adoption agencies. It was immediately clear that the process was much more involved than either of them had imagined—Levi had assumed it was as simple as going down to the orphanage, picking out a kid, filling out some paperwork, and carting the kid home. 

It was not that simple. There were orientations with the adoption agency, applications to fill out, home studies, social workers, classes, background checks, probationary periods...

“Jesus,” Levi muttered as they scrolled through the website of an adoption agency. “If everyone had to go through this to have a child, there’d be a lot fewer families in this world."

They agreed it couldn’t hurt to attend an orientation, so a few weeks later, they found themselves at the adoption agency two towns away. Levi took copious notes as the agency went through the presentation on the adoption process, while Erwin focused his attention on just listening. 

*

“I really want this,” Erwin confessed quietly as they were laying in bed that night, huddled close. Levi tilted his head back, meeting Erwin’s eyes.

“I was fairly sure I wanted a family before,” Erwin continued, stroking a hand down Levi’s side. “But now...I can’t imagine not doing this.” 

Levi’s expression was always difficult to read, but his face softened at Erwin’s words.

“I know that you know I’ve never had much of a family,” Levi began, looking down to gather his thoughts. “But...I think I’d like to have one. A real family.” He met Erwin’s eyes again. “With you.”

Erwin had been watching him anxiously, but he broke into an almost startlingly joyous smile at Levi’s words. He grabbed Levi in a suffocating embrace, pressing his face into dark hair. Levi wiggled in protest.

“Christ, Erwin, you’re going to crush me,” he complained, his voice muffled against Erwin’s T-shirt. Erwin laughed shakily, loosening his hold so he could bend down and kiss Levi.

“Ugh, are you _crying?_ ” Levi asked, incredulous, trying to push himself away. “That’s fucking gross. You’re gonna get snot all over me—hey!”

Erwin rolled on top of Levi, pinning him to the bed and covering him with wet kisses. 

*

They filled out the application the next day. It was lengthy and full of information neither of them knew off the top of their head, and Levi was exhausted after checking and double-checking that the information was correct before submitting it. A week later, they were informed that a social worker would be visiting their home to make sure they were suitable to be parents. 

Levi went into a cleaning frenzy, despite their home already being spotless. He dusted the tops of shelves, cleaned windows, vacuumed, and reorganized their fridge and pantry. While he was busy with that, Erwin diligently went through the possessions that they had on display, quietly removing a few questionable books and DVDs from their shelves and piling them in an unassuming cardboard box under their bed labeled “taxes.” As an afterthought, he emptied the contents of their nightstands into the box as well. They also cleaned up and organized all the stuff they had put into the spare room. 

It turned out to mostly be for nothing. The social worker came on a Saturday morning when they were both home. She made a cursory glance around the house before sitting down with them in the living room.  

The interview was casual—she asked them about their marriage and their jobs, Erwin describing his office job and responsibilities, and Levi showing her some websites he had designed. The social worker asked them a few more questions about why they wanted to adopt (Levi was very tempted to point out that neither of them had a uterus), if they were prepared for the responsibilities of being parents, and so on. At the end of the meeting, the social worker thanked them for their time and told them the adoption agency would contact them soon about their application status. 

Erwin let out a breath when she left. 

“That was way more stressful than it had any right to be,” he groaned, pulling Levi into his chest.

“I’m pretty sure she was just checking to make sure we weren’t unemployed drug addicts,” Levi replied, folding his arms loosely around Erwin’s waist. Erwin laughed. 

“I was half-expecting her to snoop through the medicine cabinet,” he said before pulling away. 

“At least she didn’t find your kinky sex box,” Levi murmured, earning himself a swat on the ass. 

*

There were more hoops to jump through after that. Classes they had to attend with other prospective adoptive parents (Levi quietly mocked the other couples in attendance, Erwin elbowing him to make him stop), background checks, fingerprints, physical exams...things that made them feel more like untrusted criminals than potential fathers.  

Finally— _finally_ —they got the call that they’d been approved, and that the agency would inform them when they had a prospective match. Levi had gotten the call when he was working at home, so he texted Erwin. Erwin came back from work about an hour later, sheepishly admitting that he’d been sent home early because he’d started to cry. Levi rolled his eyes, but looped his arms around Erwin without any derisive comments. 

*

“Sooo are you hoping for a boy or a girl?” Hanji asked, spinning around in Levi’s desk chair.  

“Fuck, I don’t know,” Levi replied, bending over his laptop and scribbling a detail down in his notebook. “I think it’s a little early to be assigning gender norms to our so-far nonexistent child.” 

Hanji had taken to visiting Levi at home on days off because Levi apparently didn’t “get out enough.”  

“Ugh, fine. Do you at least know when they’re going to drop a baby on your doorstep?”

Levi sighed, straightening up. He’d been trying to get work done, but Hanji was a bit of a distraction—it reminded him of the disastrous attempts at study sessions they’d had in college. Some things never changed.

“We’re not sure,” he said. “They said it might be a few months before we’re matched with a mother. And then however long it takes for the baby to be born...unless something happens to the baby or the mother changes her mind. Then we’d have to start over with waiting for another match.”

Hanji regarded him quietly as he fidgeted with his work notes. 

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Levi admitted. “I’m a little out of my depth here. I never thought I’d want a family until I met Erwin...and now we’re going through all this shit because we can’t even be sure we’ll get the kid until they’re born and the mother has given them up...” He frowned. “And then there’s another six months after that so we can show them we’re fit to be parents. Not to mention everything that will happen when we have an actual living child to take care of.”

Hanji’s arms looped around Levi’s middle. 

“I know you’re both worried. But you guys are gonna make great parents, and it’ll happen one way or another, even if it takes forever.” 

“Thanks,” Levi murmured. “We’ll get it sorted out eventually.”

“Of course you will.” Hanji grinned. “...now how do you feel about baby showers?”

*

Not long after that, they got news of a match. It was a baby boy, and he was due in a month. 

They hadn’t expected to be matched so soon, and they definitely hadn’t expected such a short amount of time to prepare, so it sent them into an absolute frenzy. They had a million things to buy and a nursery to put together. Erwin’s parents also were calling him frequently, excited about the prospect of a grandson. Levi soon grew tired of the calls interrupting their evenings, and he began to touch and tease Erwin when he was on the phone, seeing how long Erwin could last before he hurriedly wrapped up the phone call and pounced on Levi. 

They decided to tackle the nursery first. Levi scrolled through articles about paint fumes on his phone while Erwin browsed through color swatches at the hardware store. Eventually, they decided on a soft, mellow green after Levi refused to look at blues, muttering darkly about harmful gender stereotypes. 

Unsurprisingly, Hanji did manage to put together a baby shower behind their backs. They were lured into a false sense of security when Mike and Nanaba invited them to their house to have lunch and unwind. When they got there, Hanji pounced on them, dragging them into the living room, where they were met with a table full of presents and Erwin’s parents. 

“How in the hell...” Levi muttered as Erwin’s mother threw herself at her son excitedly.

“I have my ways,” Hanji replied smugly, steering him into a seat. “Now sit down and eat some goddamn cake. You have a lot of presents to open.”

The baby shower turned out to be enormously helpful. Between Hanji, Mike, Nanaba, and Erwin’s parents, they managed to amass almost everything they would need for the baby—a car seat, clothes, blankets, bibs, a sling, bath supplies, diapers, bottles...and Erwin’s mother promised to bring down the crib she’d kept in storage from when Erwin was a baby. 

*

It became a game of waiting. They had everything ready—the nursery was completely finished, they’d figured out the car seat, and Erwin had arranged to take time off work. 

Levi could tell Erwin was getting antsy. He’d been working extra hours to make sure the company would be okay without him for a bit, and the stress from that plus waiting for the baby was starting to get to him. Levi pulled him into their bedroom one night after a bad day, pushing him onto the bed and climbing on top of him. 

“You need to relax,” he murmured, smoothing his hands over Erwin's cheeks and pressing their foreheads together. 

“I know,” Erwin sighed, slipping his arms around Levi’s middle. “It just feels like we’ve been waiting forever, and I’m so worried that something’s going to go wrong, and we’ll have to wait even longer.”

Levi stroked his hair. 

“Everything will work itself out in time,” he said. “No one said having a kid would be easy.”

“Look at you being the optimist,” Erwin teased, his fingers tickling down Levi’s sides. 

“Fuck off, I was trying to be nice,” Levi protested as he scrambled away from Erwin.  Erwin grinned, following him.

* 

The social worker called their house on a Thursday. Levi answered the call, responding quietly and thanking her. He placed the phone back in its cradle, staring off into space. Finally, he shook himself out of his stupor and grabbed the phone again, calling Erwin. 

“Hey,” he murmured when Erwin picked up. “Come home so we can go to the hospital. Our son is waiting for us.”

* 

Levi drove so Erwin could pull himself together before they got to the hospital.

The social worker met them there, smiling gently when she saw Levi squeezing Erwin’s hand. They went through some more paperwork in a side office before she briefed them on what to expect. 

“There is one thing...” she began, hesitating. “You don’t have to go along with this, but the mother did request a name.”

* 

They followed the social worker into the nursery, their eyes zeroing in on the bassinet the nurse on duty led them toward.  

“Here he is,” the nurse said softly. “He’s not been discharged by his pediatrician yet, but his nurse will be in to tell you about that.”

They hardly heard her. Erwin leaned over the bassinet, looking at the little bundle squirming. He looked up at Levi, who was staring down at the baby, his expression soft. Levi smoothed a hand over the blanket the baby was swaddled in. 

“Hello Eren,” he murmured, stroking a pink cheek with one finger.

Eren wiggled, freeing one hand from the blanket and grabbing Levi’s finger. 

“Oh God,” Erwin muttered, covering his face. 

“Way to keep it together,” Levi said, smiling gently as he slid his hands under the bundle, scooping Eren up into his arms. “That’s your other dad,” he said to their child, swaying slightly to rock him. “He’s a weirdo and he cries a lot.”

“Oh shut up,” Erwin choked through his tears. 

“Watch your language in front of the baby, dear,” Levi murmured, stepping around the bassinet to hand Eren over. 

Erwin cradled the bundle in his arms, sniffing, a ridiculously big grin on his face as he stared down at the baby boy. Levi scoffed and dug out one of the tissues he’d stuffed in his pocket, wiping the tears from Erwin’s face.  

“I’m only taking one crying baby home from the hospital,” he warned. “So if you keep that up, I’m leaving you here.”

Erwin silenced him with a kiss. They pulled apart after a moment, Eren tucked between them. 

“He’s perfect,” Levi said quietly, his fingers skimming over downy hair. 

*

They stayed at the hospital overnight. Erwin fell asleep in one of the padded reclining chairs in the nursery while Levi watched over Eren. Levi eventually crashed too, wedging himself against Erwin and closing his eyes. 

The pediatrician came in the morning to check on Eren. He was declared ready to be discharged that afternoon, so the nurses finished up a few tests and vaccines, gave Erwin and Levi a huge folder full of important documents and information about newborn care, counseled them on how to bottle feed and do other things, and then finally sent them on their way around dinnertime. 

Eren started crying on the way home. Levi had insisted on sitting in the backseat, so he leaned over the car seat, shushing Eren as best he could while Erwin drove, briefly glancing back at his husband and his son in the rearview mirror.  

They were exhausted by the time they got home, but there was still a lot to do. Levi set Eren in his crib before they sat down at the kitchen table to look through everything the nurses had given them, picking at some leftover pasta while they read. 

“Ugh, we know all this shit already,” Levi mumbled as the threw aside the flyer about baby baths. 

“Maybe we over-prepared,” Erwin replied, snagging the flyer to glance over it. Levi groaned, leaning back in his chair and stretching. 

“Why don’t you go to bed early?” Erwin suggested as he gathered up the papers. “You didn’t sleep much last night.” 

Levi yawned. 

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea,” he said, heaving himself out of his seat. He stumbled toward the bedroom. 

Erwin sighed, wandering back into the nursery. Eren was squirming, so Erwin scooped him up, swaying from side to side to soothe him. It worked quickly, and Erwin set him down, checking the baby monitor and deciding to join Levi. 

Far too soon, they were awoken by Eren’s cries. Levi grumbled and turned over, so Erwin reluctantly rolled out of bed to see what was wrong. Eren was positively wailing by the time Erwin entered the nursery, so he lifted the baby out of the crib and held him close, bouncing slightly. 

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” he murmured. He checked Eren’s diaper, but it was dry. Eren continued to wail, his tiny hands coming up to his mouth, which was a telltale sign he was hungry, according to the many books and websites they’d perused in the past month. Erwin grabbed a clean pacifier and offered it to him, which immediately quieted his crying. Relieved, Erwin set him in the crib and went to the kitchen to prepare some formula. When it was ready, he curled up on the couch with Eren in his arms to feed him. 

Eren accepted the formula eagerly, and Erwin watched him suck at the bottle with a soft expression. After Eren had his fill, Erwin held him a bit longer until he started to squirm again, then he grabbed a towel and held the baby against his shoulder, patting him until he burped. 

Erwin collapsed on the bed after he’d put Eren back in the nursery. Levi shifted at the movement but didn’t wake. Not even two hours later, Eren was wailing again. Levi groaned and rolled out of bed this time, coming back a few minutes later mumbling about messy diapers. 

*

Neither of them were particularly well-rested in the morning, but there was lots to do, so they forced themselves out of bed. Levi wanted to test out their stroller and take Eren on a walk after breakfast, so they got him ready, Erwin carefully spreading baby sunscreen over his soft skin. 

Many of their neighbors were out doing yard work since it was a Saturday morning, so they had to stop several times so Eren could be fawned over. Not that Eren seemed to mind. His little eyes were open, staring unfocused at the world around him. He quickly fell asleep, though, so they headed home, hoping he would stay asleep for a bit.  

Erwin’s parents were the first to visit. They were infatuated the moment they saw Eren, and Eren spent most of their visit tucked happily in his grandmother’s arms. She surrendered him to Levi when he began to cry from hunger, and she watched as Levi settled on the couch to feed him. 

“You did good,” she murmured in Erwin’s ear, stroking her hand down his back before looping her arm around his shoulder in a hug. Erwin nodded, smiling. 

Hanji, Mike, and Nanaba came soon afterward, bearing food and a much-needed bottle of wine for the new parents. Hanji watched Eren wiggle, fascinated but hesitant to actually hold the small squirming human, so Erwin handed their son to Nanaba instead, who held him with steady, sure hands as she sat back on the couch. Mike slid an arm around her, and Erwin and Levi didn’t miss the way he gently squeezed her leg when she looked up at him, smiling. 

*

They slowly acclimated to everything that came with taking care of a baby. The first few days were tough, but Levi soon became an expert at discerning what Eren needed when he cried, and Erwin had become the master of doing things with one hand while holding a baby with the other. 

Once Erwin was sure they had everything under control, he went back to work. More often than not, he would come home to find Levi sitting cross-legged at his desk, working on code with their child sleeping in his lap. He would kiss Levi and scoop Eren into his arms, rocking him, before putting his things away and going to start on dinner.  

One evening, Erwin came home to find that Levi wasn’t in his work room. He frowned, checking the nursery, before he heard sounds coming from their bedroom. Levi was on the bed, laying on his stomach with Eren in front of him. As Erwin silently watched, Levi hid his face behind a blanket before dropping it, causing Eren to squeal with delight. Levi reached for Eren, nimble fingers tickling at his sides before he bent to pepper his belly with kisses. Eren giggled, squirming.  

Erwin felt his heart leap when Levi raised his head, a rare, genuine smile lighting up his face. They would be just fine. 

 


End file.
